HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY:

10 EASY STEPS
 Why is writing an essay so
frustrating?

Learning how to write an essay

can be a maddening,
exasperating process, but it
doesn't have to be. If you know
the steps and understand what to
do, writing can be easy and even
fun.
 RESEARCH
 Begin the essay writing
process by researching your
topic, making yourself an
expert. Utilize the internet,
the academic databases, and
the library. Take notes and
immerse yourself in the
words of great thinkers.
 ANALYSIS
 Analysis: Now that you have a
good knowledge base, start
analyzing the arguments of the
essays you're reading. Clearly
define the claims, write out the
reasons, the evidence. Look for
weaknesses of logic, and also
strengths. Learning how to write an
essay begins by learning how to
analyze essays written by others.
 BRAINSTORMING
 Brainstorming: Your essay will require insight of
your own, genuine essay-writing brilliance. Ask
yourself a dozen questions and answer them.
Meditate with a pen in your hand. Take walks
and think and think until you come up with
original insights to write about.
 THESIS
 Thesis: Pick your best idea and pin it down in a
clear assertion that you can write your entire essay
around. Your thesis is your main point, summed up
in a concise sentence that lets the reader know
where you're going, and why. It's practically
impossible to write a good essay without a clear
thesis.
 OUTLINE

 Sketch out your essay before

straightway writing it out. Use
one-line sentences to describe
paragraphs, and bullet points
to describe what each
paragraph will contain. Play
with the essay's order. Map out
the structure of your
argument, and make sure each
paragraph is unified.
 INTRODUCTION
 Now sit down and write the essay. The
introduction should grab the reader's attention,
set up the issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your
intro is merely a buildup of the issue, a stage of
bringing your reader into the essay's argument.
 PARAGRAPHS
 Each individual paragraph should be
focused on a single idea that supports
your thesis. Begin paragraphs with topic
sentences, support assertions with
evidence, and expound your ideas in the
clearest, most sensible way you can.
Speak to your reader as if he or she
were sitting in front of you. In other
words, instead of writing the essay, try
talking the essay.
 Gracefully exit your essay by making a quick
wrap-up sentence, and then end on some
memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an
interesting twist of logic, or some call to action.
Is there something you want the reader to walk
away and do? Let him or her know exactly what.
 THE APA STYLE
 APA citation style refers to the rules and
conventions established by the American
Psychological Association for documenting
sources used in a research paper. APA style
requires both in-text citations and a reference list.
For every in-text citation there should be a full
citation in the reference list and vice versa.
 LANGUAGE
 You're not done writing your essay until you've polished
your language by correcting the grammar, making
sentences flow, incoporating rhythm, emphasis, adjusting
the formality, giving it a level-headed tone, and making
other intuitive edits. Proofread until it reads just how you
want it to sound. Writing an essay can be tedious, but you
don't want to bungle the hours of conceptual work you've
put into writing your essay by leaving a few slippy
misppallings and pourly wordedd phrazies..
“What is written without pain is
read without pleasure.”

SAMUEL JOHNSON,1709–1784